SET-listed Berli Jucker Plc (BJC), the owner of Big C Supercenter Plc, has merged MM Mega Market, its wholesale business, with its Big C hypermarket operations, in a bid to promote expansion and management efficiency.
Aswin Techajareonvikul, chief executive of BJC, said the company completed the merger on Nov 1. MM Mega Market's staff have been transferred to Big C.
The two MM Mega Market stores in Nong Khai and Sa Kaeo provinces will be renamed Big C Supercenters in the first quarter of next year.
New MM Mega Market stores planned for Amnat Charoen and Nakhon Phanom provinces will be opened under the Big C Supercenter brand.
Earlier, BJC merged its Ogenki beauty and health store chain into Big C's Pure drugstore chain because of their business overlap.
Mr Aswin said the business consolidation is intended to help BJC focus seriously on Big C and its retail business. This will also help increase bargaining power and better serve its retail customers, he said.
Apart from the merger of MM Mega Market into Big C, BJC has already set up branches in each region to facilitate expansion, helping accelerate business growth.
BJC will use the MM Mega Market brand to expand into neighbouring countries such as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the near future.
The company cannot use the Big C brand to expand abroad, as Central Group recently bought Big C in Vietnam.
BJC operates more than 700 retail branches under various formats in Thailand and over 100 branches in Vietnam, including B's Mart and Metro.
The company will continue to expand its business in Asean, focusing on six countries in particular: Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.
In Thailand, BJC will open smaller retail stores to facilitate access to a wider group of customers.
"We will continue to invest in our retail business," Mr Aswin said. "More money will be spent on opening new stores next year as well as training staff to improve customer service."
The company has spent 4-5 billion baht to expand its Big C network this year.
Mr Aswin said BJC has been involved in the management of Big C for half a year and will try to make the two organisations work well together.
"We try to communicate with our clients and customers and make them more confident that we will be fair and will sell brands outside of our group," he said. "We want to make Big C a distribution channel to sell good products and encourage our suppliers to offer better products and services with us."
During the first nine months of 2016, BJC posted a net profit of 2.77 billion baht on revenue of 97.4 billion.
BJC shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 53.50 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 488 million baht.